Imong, Niwat2023-09-122023-09-121974https://hdl.handle.net/10182/16488page 10 omitted from printed manuscript, unclear whether just an error in paginationMuch of New Zealand grassland occurs on hill country. There are approximately 8 million hectares of sown pastures and 4. 8 million hectares of these grasslands are surface-sown pastures. There are also 5. 6 million hectares of tussock grassland, mainly in the South Island, which largely occurs on hill country. Hill pastures lie over a wide range of soils and climates. Rainfall varies from 300 mm per annum in semi-arid areas of Central Otago to more than 2000 nun per annum in wetter parts of Taranaki and the King Country. Temperatures in much of the North Island are warmer than in the South Island ,which is sufficient for grass to grow all year. Farmers rely on hay and brassica crops as supplementary winter feed in the South Island. Pasture production on hill country is relatively low because of low soil fertility and lack of high producing species. In wetter districts, without suitable top dressing and intensive grazing, hill pastures are likely to revert to fern, scrub, and second growth. To improve production clovers and high producing grasses are oversown following the correction of soil nutrient deficiencies. Legumes are recognised as the key species to increase soil nitrogen levels for the high fertility grasses. Because most New Zealand hill country is unploughable, establishment of seed by surface sowing is the only method, but this is much more difficult than in a cultivated seedbed. Oversown seed is on the soil surface, not beneath it, and may fail to germinate, or if it does, may be desiccated by drying winds and sunlight. Seeds may be also taken by birds and insects (Campbel l 1966). In addition, nodulation problems may occur in l egumes , due to poor survival of inoculurn on the seed or on the soil surface. This review will deal mainly with the factors which affect the germination and early survival of seedlings which seem to be the most important stages of pasture establishment from surface-sown seeds.75 pageshttps://researcharchive.lincoln.ac.nz/pages/rightsgermination ratesseed coatingherbicidepasture productionsoil fertilityDissertationDigital thesis can be viewed by current staff and students of Lincoln University only. If you are the author of this item, please contact us if you wish to discuss making the full text publicly available.ANZSRC::300499 Crop and pasture production not elsewhere classifiedANZSRC::300407 Crop and pasture nutritionANZSRC::410601 Land capability and soil productivity